A difficulty with conventional building construction is that assembly of the various elements requires skilled labor. The construction process generally involves preparing the structural members on site prior to assembly. In the case of timber, such preparation may involve complex joint shapes to be cut into the timber before joining through the use of machine tools requiring the expertise of a skilled operator. With extruded or roll formed materials, such materials still require joining features to be added subsequent to their production. Assembly also involves general engineering skill such as plan reading to follow the architect's intended plan. The skilled labor required increases building costs and the degree of skill required means that errors may be made in carrying out the architect's intended plan.
The design process also requires considerable professional skill including sound engineering knowledge and proficiency with the various codes of practice enforced by the authorities. The professional costs also add considerably to the cost of building.
It will also be appreciated that the transport and delivery of materials to a site adds to the cost of building. Inconvenience and delays will result if materials are not available when required. Preformed, precut and preassembled materials may reduce onsite labor costs but generally need to be well organized so that pieces are not lost or confused.
Another difficulty with conventional building is the huge range of materials required to be transported to a building site. This imposes storage problems as well as the difficulty of coordinating all the required materials to complete a particular job. Any materials on the building site are also liable to theft.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to devise ways of overcoming or at least ameliorating the above-mentioned disadvantages.